IRS Penalty Assessment and form 5471 for American Expats

American expats living abroad face an overwhelming complexity of international tax forms. Although, many Americans heard about the foreign earned income exclusion and foreign housing exclusion, most of the time they are not aware of many complex forms. Foreign trust form 3520 and Form 5471 are the one of these...
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Voluntary Disclosure, John Doe Summons and Undisclosed Offshore Accounts

The IRS is counting major victories in finding undisclosed offshore accounts and non-compliant taxpayers. The information is coming from various sources: FATCA, Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, whistle-blowers, ISIJ report about offshore banking accounts and “John Doe” Summons. We earlier wrote an article about IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program. The Offshore Voluntary...
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FATCA: Cayman Islands and Costa Rica signed the FATCA IGAs

The FATCA pool is expanding every month. At the end of November 2013 two more countries joined the FATCA. The names of these countries will surprise anybody. The Cayman Islands and Costa Rica have become 11th and 12th members of the FATCA circle. The Cayman Islands FATCA and Costa Rica...
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Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act: Panama FATCA and American Expats

FATCA has been a popular topic among American expats living abroad and foreign financial institutions for the past 3 years. As of November 2013, 10 countries have signed intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with the USA. Moreover, the USA has been in negotiations with over 80 countries that are interested in joining...
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IRS Rules for Claiming Charitable Contributions by American Expats

Making charitable contributions is one of the ways to decrease US expat tax liability. American expats living abroad can make a charitable donation to a wide range of US and foreign charities. However, it is essential to follow several IRS rules to make sure that charity donations are tax deductible....
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